


i will {not} dance for you

by HLMMMM



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead centric - Freeform, Bughead dancing, Core Four go to a NYC club, F/M, Highschool age, Nick St. Clair is the villian, Protective Juggie, Some harsh language too because I’m sweary af, The dancing gets a little smutty, Veronica’s a good friend though, brave Betty, theres dancing, very little Archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-19 15:11:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18137381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HLMMMM/pseuds/HLMMMM
Summary: Betty Cooper is an overachieving, stressed out teenager who needs a break. Her bff, Veronica, swoops in to save the day, and drags Jughead and Archie along with them.A club is for dancing... and drinking... and maybe discovering suppressed feelings for one of your best friends?





	i will {not} dance for you

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-serving story of sexy dancing and feelings being discovered because of forced, shared space. I love dancing. I, also, love Bughead. 
> 
> Cheers to my first published story and not being scared outta my mind for people to read it! It’s only been sitting complete for months. MONTHS. 
> 
> Welp, here goes... enjoy, my friends!

Today was a day like any other. It started in the Blue and Gold office, where Jughead was leaning against one of the desks, listening, as Betty paced back and forth chewing on her nails. 

“I just don’t understand, Jug! Why is she like this? Why does she berate me for the littlest things?!”

“I don’t know, Betts. You don’t deserve it.”

Betty keeps pacing and Veronica slips in the office, unnoticed by her. She watches her pace and looks to Jughead. Jughead gives her a defeated look, helpless. 

“B!” Veronica exclaims, stopping Betty in her tracks. She whips her head around to look at Veronica, ponytail smacking the side of her head. The clicking of Veronica’s heels is the only sound as she makes her way over to Betty. She puts her hands on Betty’s biceps and squares her shoulders. 

“You need a break, B. An actual break from reality.”

“V—I don’t have time...”

“No, Betty. You won’t win this one. Jughead agrees with me, don’t you Jughead?”

Both girls turn to look at him. His eyes widen in panic. Veronica glares at him. 

“Yeah... yes! I agree!” His voice softens, “You really could use a nice break, Betts.”

Veronica whips back to face Betty. “It’s settled then. We’ll all go to New York tonight and out to my favorite club.” Veronica starts walking towards the door. She throws an arm in the air, “We’re dancing tonight, kids!”

“All?” Betty asks. 

“Yes, ALL! Me, you, Jughead and I’m sure we can convince Archie too.”

“Whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Jughead shouts. “I am NOT going to New York tonight and I’m definitely NOT going to a club to dance. No. Not happening.”

“If Jug isn’t going, then neither am I,” Betty states, arms crossed. 

Veronica glares at Jughead. And he glares right back. They’re in a stand off. A fucking stand off. 

“I swear to God, Jughead, if you don’t—“

“Fine! Fine.” Jughead concedes. “But you owe me, Lodge.” 

Veronica dips her head, acknowledging the IOU. She turns to Betty, “I’ll pick you up tonight at 7pm.” With that, she turns to leave.

“What just happened?” Betty asks. 

Jughead groans, loudly. “I have no idea.”

 

Veronica arrives at Betty’s house (and Archie’s by proxy) at 7pm sharp. Both boys walk out of Archie’s house as Betty leaves her own. They all get in Veronica’s car. 

“I’m actually dead if my mom finds out what we’re doing. Also, I’ll never see any of you again, so...”

“Betty, everything will be fine. You’re staying at my house. My parents are gone for the weekend. It’s fine.” Veronica says flippantly. 

Betty does not relax, Jughead notes. 

They arrive at the club and Veronica seems to wave a magic wand and they’re all magically inside a club high schoolers most definitely should not be inside. They follow Veronica, like puppy dogs, because she seems to own this bitch. She has a table - her own table?! 

They all settle in and before Jughead can even blink, Veronica grabs Betty’s hand and pulls her on the dance floor. It takes her a few songs, but after a while, Jughead notices that Betty seems to actually be having fun. It warms his heart, enough to make sitting here in this god-awful club worth it. 

Betty and Veronica make their way back to the table where Jughead and Archie have been sitting. 

Jughead sees a few guys approach their table, coming up behind the girls.

“As I live and breathe, if it’s not Veronica Lodge.” Veronica whips around.

“Nick St. Clair,” she mutters, as he bends down to kiss her cheek. “Boys,” she nods towards the posse following Nick. 

“I’m Nicholas.” He extends his hand to Betty. The hairs on Jughead’s neck stand on end and his fists clench. 

“Nick, this is Betty, Jughead and Archie.” Veronica introduces. Nick’s eyes don’t leave Betty’s face. 

Betty looks over to Jughead and Archie, shoots them a smile and then grabs Ronnie’s hand and tugs her on the dance floor. 

Nick and his boys hang around, never acknowledging Archie or Jughead. Jughead wishes he hadn’t, but he overhears Nick bragging to his boys about going after Betty. It has Jughead’s skin crawling. Before he knows what’s happening, he’s out of seat. 

He wove his way through the crowd of dancing people; getting pushed and jabbed as he tried to avoid physical contact with anyone. Luckily, those flowing golden locks of Betty’s were easy for him to spot, as her head was bobbing to the music. As he’s making his way through, he can’t help but think - why am I doing this? Betty sees him just as he steps in front of her. Her head lifts and her eyes light up, 

“Are you going to dance with me, Juggie?” 

Her voice is shouting and full of surprise and excitement, as her finger tips graze his bare forearms to latch on. His eyes widen in response, as if he can’t imagine saying no to that face, but he also can’t imagine actually choosing to dance. As he shakes the shock out of his head, he grabs Betty’s elbows and leans down to shout closer to her ear. He doesn’t want anyone else to hear, but is also well aware that the throbbing of the music would prevent her from hearing him otherwise. 

“Where’s Veronica?”

“Bathroom.” 

“I just wanted to warn you. That guy, Nick? Veronica’s friend. He’s gonna try to get with you.”

He steps back to look at her face and sees her eyebrows knit together, eyes searching. He leans back down to her ear. 

“I overheard him talking. He’s nasty, Betty. I don’t trust him.” 

She avoids eye contact for a minute. He starts to doubt saying anything. Maybe, she wants him to get with her. Maybe, he misread the situation. Maybe, he’s a stupid idiot who should have mind his own bus—

“Stay with me.”

Betty peers up at him. He didn’t actually hear the words, but he saw her mouth move. She didn’t— did she? Did she say that? He squints his eyes and leans an ear closer to her, clearly communicating that he didn’t hear her. So Betty, still grasping his forearms, clutches a little hard, pulling him down to her mouth,

“Stay with me. Here. Please?”

She pulls back to look at him. His face softens. 

“He gives me the creeps, Jug. I don’t want him near me. Stay with me. He won’t bother me if you’re here, right?”

He looks down as she backs away from his ear. His chests swells. The internal battle of being overwhelmed and disgusted by the swarm of sweaty bodies pushing into his personal space is at war with the primal need to protect Betty. The thought of that misogynistic asshole of a man getting anywhere near her, putting his hands on her, bending down to shout things in her ear, propels him forward. 

“Right.”

She wins. Betty will always win. 

Betty smiles. A genuine, over the moon smile. And it melts him. He hopes no one is looking, even though there are what seems like a million people around him. His cheeks are tinted pink and he knows if the lighting in here wasn’t all strobe lights and lasers, she’d see right through him. 

“I’m pretty sure this means you just agreed to dance with me.”

Betty smirks. Actually smirks. She knows she won, he thinks to himself. And he glares at her in response. The giggle dancing in her eyes does something inside of him. 

As he now feels the awkwardness of his current state start to overwhelm him, what do I do with my hands! Betty snakes her arms up to his shoulders, running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. 

Whoa. Feelings. 

She’s never touched me like this before. 

His arms swoop around her, his hands falling naturally to her lower back. 

I guess I’ve never touched her like this before, either. He feels himself relax. Relax into her. 

“Thanks, Juggie.”

Her lips graze the shell of his ear and then, she starts moving. Her body is swaying to the music and he finds his own following her lead. Her hips start swerving. They are intoxicating. He can’t think about anything else. His hands seem to have a mind of their own as they leave her lower back and find purchase on those hips. His fingers clench on them. He starts to feel guilty at how hard they are grabbing on until her hips start moving even more forcefully back and forth, with what seems like new found confidence. Before he can even begin to process the thought, me? My actions gave her that confidence boost? Jughead feels Betty’s hands leave the back of his neck and make their way down to his chest. She leaves them there as her body gets lost in the music. Her eyes are closed, her body is moving back and forth to the beat and he is mesmerized. 

Betty. Elizabeth Cooper. The little girl he grew up with, who would take turns pushing the swing with him. The little girl, who turned into the most hard working, intelligent over-achiever he’s ever met. The girl who never takes a break from school work to go to parties. That girl. Stands before him now, inhibitions completely lost. Before he came over to talk to her, he watched her dance. She was having fun and smiling, but he saw the reserve still holding on under the surface. She didn’t fully let go. Not until he came beside her. She wanted him to stay - to guard her from Nick, to protect her. She wanted him here with her. And now, she doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Jughead realizes that giving her that safe space, alone, is worth succumbing to the peer pressure of dancing in a club. 

Betty takes her hands off of his chest and he immediately misses the warmth of them. She looks up at him and smiles warmly. And all of sudden, she turns. Jughead starts to panic, so far out of his element. He’s searching for a sign of what to do next, where to put his hands when he feels her back press to his chest. Instinct propels him, as he leans forward and his hands find her hips again. This time, instead of clenching, his fingers spread wide and cover as much of her hips as he can reach. He’s pressing his chest to her shoulder blades and his left ear to her right. As soon as contact was made, he feels Betty turn her face into his, ever so slightly, pressing her cheek into his own. They stay pressed together like that as their bodies sway to the music. Jughead can’t begin to fathom how their bodies are working together and so in tune with each other. It doesn’t make any sense to him, but Betty doesn’t seem confused about it so he goes with it. He’s starting to feel a part of him awaken to a feeling he’s never felt before. 

Betty and Jughead are in the middle of hundreds of people dancing and bumping to music they’ve never heard before. And for a time, they both get lost. In the music. In each other. Neither knows how many minutes pass. 

Jughead has stopped thinking. He’s stopped the processing that is constantly clogging his brain. He has let his mind get lost in the music and in Betty. Up until now, Betty has taken the lead. He’s fallen in step with her and the body cues she’s given him. In a step of confidence, Jughead presses his hands into her hips and starts moving them; pushing them back and forth in a figure eight motion. He’s in awe of the way that Betty’s body is moving, appreciating every dip and curve. In a moment, Betty leans her head back on his shoulder. He feels her relax even more into him and allows him to move her body for her even for just a second. Jughead feels the release; feels the moment that she’s trusted him completely with her body. He turns his head towards her, so his nose is pressed into her cheek. He breathes deeply, soaking up the intimacy of the moment. As he pulls his head away, he opens his eyes and looks down. With her head still on his shoulder, he sees her chest heaving and on full display. His throat tightens, as does the front of his jeans. 

For the first time, Jughead knows what he wants to do with his hands. He moves them from Betty’s hips and splays them across her taut stomach with the slightest pressure. There’s skin peeking through the gap between her top and her skirt and Jughead feels his fingertips ignite as he connects with the ivory softness. With his chest still pressed into her back, he feels the hum of pleasure Betty gives out at his movements. She dips her head forward and presses her right ear to his left again. Jughead can’t seem to stop exploring the amazingness of Betty’s abdomen. His fingers are tracing the skin just below her shirt’s end and unconsciously, he starts applying more pressure to her body. So much so that he realizes Betty’s ass is now rubbing deliciously against his cock. She leans back again and, good lord, she’s arching her back on him. Her breasts are out and her head is back. He’s looking down into her shirt and dreaming of all the things he could do down the valley of her perfect breasts. He can’t help, but rub his hardness into her plump ass. He closes his eyes, just as she has done with hers, and soaks in the moment; trying to memorize every bit of connection that he has with Betty Cooper’s body at this very moment. He’s so caught up in the perfection that without thinking, he dips his head slightly and applies the gentlest of kisses to crook of her neck and shoulder. 

Betty stiffens. Her movements halt altogether. Jughead’s eyes fly open, but his body is frozen in place. 

And all of a sudden he realizes who he is and who he is with, where they are and everything they’ve done that’s brought them to this point. He thinks he might die of embarrassment. 

But then, Betty’s hand is on his cheek. She’s turned her face to look at him and coerced him to bring his eyes up to her own. He can barely make eye contact, dreading the lashing he’s due from her for taking advantage of her body in this situation. He musters the courage to connect his eyes with her own. She’s searching. He doesn’t know what she is looking for, but he’s trying to convey how sorry he is with just his eyes. He thinks she’s probably regretting asking him to stay. 

With Betty’s hand on his cheek still, he drops his eyes not having the strength to keep eye contact with someone he knows would never want him the way he so very obviously wants her. Betty’s body moves away from his. She turns to face him fully, using both hands to get his attention and keep his eyes on her. 

“Hey,” she says. “Hey!”

In an instance, Betty is on her tip toes pressing her lips to Jughead’s. Her surprise catches him off guard at first, but as soon as the fire catches in the pit of his stomach, he’s kissing her back fervently. He connects his hands with her sides and turns his head to deepen the kiss. Her mouth opens to his and he can’t taste her fast enough. His hands are everywhere all at the same time—up and down her sides, and on her back, pressing her closer to him. They break apart, both panting heavily. He gently presses his forehead to hers and breathes,

“Betts.”

Her eyes are still closed and her lips turn upward, warmly. 

“Jug,” she breathes back. 

He nudges his nose against hers affectionately, kisses her cheek and bends down to hug her tightly. She squeezes back and turns her head ever so slightly to kiss his neck. She leans up and says,

“Dancing is just awful, isn’t it?!”

Betty leans back to give him her best sassy smirk and finds his eyes dark and full of lust. 

“I’m gonna kiss that smirk right off your face, Cooper.”

“Only if you promise to dance with me more, Jones.”

He kisses her soundly on the mouth, letting his hands trail down her back and onto her ass. He squeezes it, suggestively. Betty jumps back from his mouth and gasps. Looking up at Jughead with amusement dancing in her eyes, as if to say how dare you?! And Jughead starts looking around with a face that says— who did that?!

Betty giggles. 

The moment turns heated when Jughead’s eyes lock on her own and his hands move from her ass, up her sides, grazing the side of her breasts. They keep climbing until they are moving her arms above her head and he crosses her hands, pulling just enough to turn her body around. He brings her arms back down and wraps them around her midsection, pressing her willing body back into his. She moves her arms so that his are the ones holding on to her middle, while hers rest on top of his. Jughead’s chin is resting on Betty’s shoulder as she relaxes even deeper into him and he moves them back and forth with the rhythm of the music. She opens her neck to him and he can’t help but meet that flesh with his lips again. His kisses move up until he finds a spot behind her ear that makes her knees actually buckle beneath her. Her nails nearly pierce the skin of his forearms as she digs into them letting the pleasure rake through her body. Jughead moves away from her ear and focuses on moving their bodies to the music. 

Betty presses her ass more forcefully back into his cock, causing Jughead to nearly lose all control. He growls in her ear,

“You better watch yourself, Elizabeth. I don’t think your mother would approve of the thoughts your ass is making me think.”

He feels the laugh that bubbles through her against his chest and he smiles. Betty’s body continues to twist and dip to the music. Slowly she brings an arm up and around to grasp at the hair at the nape of his neck. Her nails seductively scratch his scalp. Jughead’s eyes roll into the back of his head and the moan that comes out of his mouth involuntarily sends shivers down Betty’s spine. She turns her face to look at him and he can’t hide the pleasure that is written all over it. She smiles at him, seemingly pleased with herself and kisses him. Jughead feels intoxicated by her lips. 

When she pulls away and lays her head against him, he leans down to her ear,

“So, I could stay her forever and dance with you, but are you hungry? Thirsty? I know you haven’t had a thing since we got here.”

“Now that you mention it,” Betty says, “I really need some water.”

Jughead leans down and kisses her soundly on the mouth, then grabs her hand and walks to the bar. With Betty following behind him, he can’t contain the giddy he feels inside, even if he does school his facial features to ‘calm and collected,’ as he feels her fingers clasp on to his own with no hesitation as they walk out of the bubble they just found themselves in. The bubble where they openly explored each other’s bodies as if no one else was in the room. The bubble where they didn’t have to think about how their friends might react to their actions. 

As Jughead approaches the bar, he puts up two fingers and says, “two waters.” He grabs both glasses from the bartender and hands one to Betty. Her lips turn upwards and she downs half her glass in a matter of seconds. As she comes up for air, she’s looking around. She must find what she’s looking for because she grabs Jughead’s hand and leads him to the table where Veronica, Archie, Nick and a few other people are congregating. As they approach the table, Jughead tenses as he sees Nick blatantly ogling Betty. 

Betty leans down to hug Veronica, which unlatches her hand from Jughead’s. Jughead lifts his drink to his lips as he tries not to overthink her letting go of his hand in front of their friends. As Betty stands back up next to him, he sees Veronica beckon him. He steps behind Betty to lean closer to her, so he can hear her without everyone else listening. 

“Having a good time, Jughead?!” She teases. 

He glares at her as she smirks, knowingly. She puts her hands up defensively, 

“I’m just saying, for someone who didn’t even want to come—“

“That’s enough, Veronica.”

Veronica folds her arms across her chest smugly and basks in the sass. Jughead rolls his eyes so far back into his head he thinks they might permanently damage. He also can’t help the twitch of his lip as he takes his place back by Betty’s side. 

He notices immediately that something is off. He observes Betty’s stance—shoulders ridged, knuckles white around her glass of water. Jughead knew a conversation was happening outside of him and Ronnie, but didn’t hear what they were talking about. His mind just now registers that Nick is speaking—

“...I’m just saying, that’s not at all what I heard about the Betty Cooper of Riverdale.” 

Jughead looks at Betty, whose face is full of wrath. He looks around, assessing the room—Nick is sipping what looks like a Whiskey, neat, with snark in his eyes. Archie is upright looking like he wants to come to her defense, but can’t think of the right words. Ronnie is just as confused, having not heard the beginning of this conversation either. And the other guys standing around Nick are laughing, egging him on into tomorrow. 

“Nick!” Veronica starts to chide. 

“No, Ronnie, I’m just trying to tell sweet Betty here that I can offer her a lot more than that Southside trash ever could.” Nick mutters as he nods his head towards Jughead with a disgusted look on his face. “Let me just grab you something stronger than what appears to be water?! Yeah, let me get you something you’ll probably enjoy - like maybe, a wine cooler?”

Nick and his goonies all laugh out loud at the obvious jabs toward Betty and Jughead. Veronica and Archie’s mouths are hanging wide open, while Jughead is calculating how to best get around this table so he can lay Nick out. Just as he’s about to move, he feels Betty move first. Jughead watches as Betty swiftly makes her way around the table to where Nick is. She takes his drink from his hand and slams it back. 

“Fuck YOU, Nicholas!!!” She annunciates every syllable of his name, mockingly. “The only trash I see in here is YOU! And you can shove that wine cooler right up your ass.” Betty spits out, as she waves his empty glass in front of his face and then slams it on the table in front of him. Betty turns on her heels and makes her way to Jughead, grabbing his hand and heading for the door. 

Betty doesn’t slow down until she’s outside the club and the cool air hits her skin. She stop and breathes deeply a few times before turning to Jughead,

“You’re not trash, Juggie.”

She looks at him expectantly. He can see the tears pooled in her eyes, threatening to spill over. He rubs his thumb over her cheek bone. 

“I’m more mad that you didn’t allow me the privilege of defending your honor in there.”

He snakes his arms around her and kisses her forehead. “but listen, if you’re gonna be this badass, maybe you should be the one wearing a Serpent jacket,” he smirks. 

She looks up at him and a smile breaks through the mad face she was determined to hold. 

“Maybe,” she mutters and then scrunches her nose as she continues, “but I think I’ll need a pink one.”

Jughead actually laughs out loud at that and Betty couldn’t smile bigger if she tried. 

It was just then that Veronica and Archie bust through the door finding them. Veronica, worry plastered on her face, changed instantly as she sees Betty and Jughead with their arms around each other, laughing. 

“You’re laughing?!!” Veronica asks. “What is going on?”

“Your friend is a douchebag, Ronnie.” Jughead mutters. 

Veronica holds up a finger, “Okay, “friend” is not what I would call him.”

“Not anymore!” Betty says pointedly. 

Archie hands Jughead his jacket, while Veronica holds Betty’s up for her to put her arms in. 

“I’ll get an Uber.” Archie pipes in. 

Veronica loops her arm into Betty’s and lays her head on her shoulder, “I’m so sorry, B.”

Betty glances towards Jughead and grabs his hand, intwining their fingers. She looks forward again, a content smile on her face. “It’s okay, V.”

As their Uber arrives, Archie climbs in the front seat as Veronica walks around to get in the back of the car, street-side. Jughead tugs Betty’s hand before she can climb in the car. She turns to look at him and he uses both hands to grab her face and kiss her with everything he’s got left. They break apart, but only for Betty to peck his lips one last time before climbing in the car to head home.

**Author's Note:**

> You did it! You read it. Thank you!! I’d love to hear what you thought about it! I’m gonna be brave and say I wanna hear the things you didn’t like either - I may regret that though, but.... I’ll just... go now. Xoxx


End file.
